Joe Lauzon hunting for yet another bonus against Jamie Varner at UFC on FOX 4

LOS ANGELES – Joe Lauzon would have preferred a full camp to train for his opponent.

Who wouldn’t? But Lauzon (21-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) realizes short-notice opponents are sometimes the nature of the beast in MMA. And besides, for his Saturday fight with Jamie Varner (20-6-1- MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 4, Lauzon doesn’t consider himself in a lose-lose situation, even if Varner is thought to be in win-win territory.

“I’m not training for the fighter – I’m training for the bonus,” Lauzon on Wednesday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after a workout. “I’m going after that submission, I’m going after that knockout, whatever it’s got to be. But I always have something to win.”

Lauzon was scheduled to face Terry Etim at the event, which takes place at Staples Center in Los Angeles with a main card airing nationally on FOX. But in late June, Etim was forced out with an injury and Varner, just a month removed from a stunning TKO upset win over Edson Barboza, stepped in.

Lauzon said the opponent switch is not ideal, especially considering the physical differences between Etim and Varner.

“Terry Etim’s style is so different from Jamie Varner’s,” Lauzon said. “(Etim) is like 6-foot-3 or something – really tall, really lanky, uses all his long-range weapons and his kicks. We did a lot of (training) that was very specific to Terry Etim that only he does. And now I’m going to a guy who’s completely different and doesn’t do any of the same stuff. We have like two months of training that was down the drain.”

But that won’t keep Lauzon from doing what he loves to do – finish fights. The Boston-area native has seven UFC fight night bonuses on his resume, including six straight at one point before he was knocked out with a head kick by Anthony Pettis in his most recent outing at UFC 144.

Before that loss in February, when Lauzon lost in the UFC, it was only in “Fight of the Night” performances – and those bonus checks can always help ease the pain of a check in the loss column.

“I always try to finish,” Lauzon said. “If I had a win that went to a decision, that wouldn’t feel nearly the same to me. It’s not definitive. A submission or a knockout is definitive – a judges’ decision is not.”

But Lauzon isn’t taking anything for granted against Varner. He assumes nothing, least of all that Varner has nothing to lose, like some have suggested.

“He’s trying to keep his job, so it’s not that he has nothing to lose,” Lauzon said. “But I’ve been in that underdog role quite a bit – so I know what happens when people sleep on you a little bit. I’m happy to fight him – it’s a tough fight.”

Lauzon and Varner are part of Saturday’s main card on FOX. The main event is a light heavyweight bout between former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Brandon Vera. The co-main event features 205-pound former champ Lyoto Machida against Ryan Bader. UFC president Dana White has said the fighter who wins most impressively on Saturday will move on to a title shot against the winner of champion Jon Jones and Dan Henderson. Jones already has wins over all four of the light heavyweights on Saturday’s main card.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.